The junior A Burnaby Lakers hung around for two periods against the first-place New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The junior A league leaders defeated the Burnaby Lakers 12-5 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre, despite outshooting the home team by more than three to one.
Johnny Pearson led the Salmonbellies with two goals, including his 41st of the season, in a five-point outing.
U.S. field lacrosse product Matt Shields led the Lakers with a goal in each of the second and third periods.
The New West juniors will have to do better tonight when they meet the second-place Coquitlam Adanacs for a third and final time in the regular season.
“For us, we have to treat it as a playoff game,” said the 6-4 lefthander, “come out prepared and carry on our momentum.”
In Burnaby, New West gradually shook off the plucky Lakers, who were missing four key players from their starting lineup.
New West led 4-3 after one period, despite raining 29 shots on goal on Burnaby’s David Mather, who made 56 stops and has a respectable 78.19 save percentage for the 4-14-1 junior Lakers.
Ross Bowman and newly acquired St. Catharines, Ont. product Eric Penney shared the goalkeeping duties for New West.
Burnaby captain and New Westminster product Peyton Lupul said the junior Lakers’ resurgent season has made the club feel like a family again.
“It needed to be done,” said Lupul, who was one of the injured players not in the lineup Sunday. “The difference is we have a lot more of the guys who want to play and not just go through the motions.”
Earlier at the PoCo rec centre, Burnaby shutout the hometown Saints 6-0 in the first two periods en route to an 8-4 victory on June 27.
Captain Tyler Lupul led all scorers with a six-point night, while rookie phenom Tyler Vogrig chalked up five points, including his fourth hat trick this season.
Xander McDonald made 32 saves, including 20 in the middle stanza, in two periods of shutout lacrosse before giving way to backup Aiden Yorke midway through the final frame.
Burnaby is in Victoria this Saturday before finishing up the 2014 season at home against the much-improved Nanaimo Timbermen.
Game time at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre is 5 p.m.
